


It's you that I lie with

by LessonsFromMoths



Series: Haikyuu vs Zombies [4]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Best Friends, Companion Piece, Dealing with grief by ignoring it, Established Relationship, F/M, Friendship, Karasuno, M/M, Minor Character Death, Oops, Zombies, did we expect anything else from these two, little hurt/comfort, safe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:00:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26997094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LessonsFromMoths/pseuds/LessonsFromMoths
Summary: Tadashi would give anything to be slowly starving in Akiteru’s apartment again, the four of them playing cards and pretending that they don’t hear the chaos on the streets below or the knocking at the barricaded door.But they aren't. And the longer they're out here, the more he knows they've made a mistake.
Relationships: Tanaka Saeko/Tsukishima Akiteru, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Series: Haikyuu vs Zombies [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1928431
Comments: 11
Kudos: 44





	It's you that I lie with

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a companion piece to the main Bokuaka fic! You don't have to have read it to understand this, but I do recommend checking that out first! You can do that [here.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25286761/chapters/61307485)
> 
> Ahh sorry I know I said the next one was going to be Ukatake but this one is actually a great intro for the Ukatake piece soooo....The next companion piece will then pick up pretty much right where this one left off (probably. As demonstrated, I’m constantly changing my mind, haha). 
> 
> Fic song is [As the World Caves In](https://youtu.be/yS2KyK3pqj4) by Matt Maltese
> 
> This is so super un-beta'd, sorry!

_2 Weeks A.O. (After Outbreak)_

Tadashi clamps his hands firmly over Tsukishima’s eyes, his sharp glasses digging into Tadashi’s palms painfully. 

_“Tadashi!”_ His name rips its way out of Tsukki’s throat as he claws frantically at Tadashi’s hands, but Tadashi merely holds Tsukki’s head tighter, refusing to let his struggling deter him. 

“You don’t want to watch,” Tadashi sobs, tears tracking their way down his face. He wonders how it got so bad, so quickly. It seemed like only yesterday the news was reporting the first patient deaths. The resulting panic was unparalleled, unlike anything Tadashi had ever seen or heard of before. And then the cell towers fell. And the power turned off. And the water with it. Until everyone was left wondering what in the hell happened. 

He and Tsukki were in Ibaraki, visiting Akiteru and his girlfriend Saeko, when everything went completely crazy. There were travel bans everywhere, telling you not to go to different cities or regions, and the roads were perpetually jammed with cars. It had started alright, with the four of them hunkered down in Akiteru’s apartment and rationing food and water, but they had run out of water fairly quickly. Not to mention the people trying to break in….

So they had left. At the time, it had seemed like a great idea. But now, watching an infected person (zombie, they called them on TV before the channels all turned to static) rip into Akiteru’s neck as they stared on, Tadashi would give anything to be slowly starving in Akiteru’s apartment, the four of them playing cards and pretending that they don’t hear the chaos on the streets below or the knocking at the barricaded door. 

Tadashi had grabbed Tsukki immediately after Akiteru got ripped into, shielding him from watching his brother get eaten alive. Despite the problems between the two, Tadashi knows that Tsukki loves Akiteru more than anyone else...he doesn’t need to see this. Tadashi can barely watch it himself, trying to remove his emotions from the situation as much as possible. It’s not working well. 

“Akiteru,” Tsukki chokes out, and Tadashi knows he’s trying to be quiet. They’re at a higher vantage point than Akiteru was, but if they’re heard by the infected they may not be able to get away. They have to use this distraction (oh god, Akiteru’s screams are the distraction) to get away. 

“Shh,” Tadashi whispers, holding the back of Tsukki’s head to his chest, his hands still clamped firmly over his glasses.

“We hafta go,” Saeko’s voice comes to their right, and when Tadashi looks at her, he sees tear tracks trailing down her face. She’s pointedly looking away from the street, a gentle hand on Tadashi’s shoulder. “We can’t linger.” 

“Tsukki, don’t look,” Tadashi says shakily, and he uncovers his boyfriend’s eyes. Predictably, they immediately find Akiteru’s lifeless body as the Infected snack on him, the sounds making the trip all the way up to their vantage point. Tadashi grips Tsukki’s wrist and pulls him with them as he tries to follow Saeko. Her eyes are frantically sweeping the streets, looking for an out. 

“There,” she points to another building. “We go there and regroup.” Tadashi doesn’t ask why they don’t do it here. At least in that building, they won’t be able to see Akiteru’s final resting place (or would it be? Would Akiteru come back as one of them?). Saeko’s clever eyes -- ones that always made Tadashi a bit wary of her but made her a great match for Akiteru’s mild nature -- flick from place to place until she gives a sharp nod. “Follow me!” 

Tadashi is still dragging Tsukki behind him, but now Tsukki is grasping onto him as strongly as he is to Tsukki. Once they make it to the building, they barricade the door and catch their breath. Saeko leans against the wall and slides to the floor, her eyes wide and disbelieving. Tadashi knows that she and Akiteru went to high school together. They had been dating for a year or so, and drinking buddies for even longer. For him to be gone, just like that, was unbelievable. Improbable. 

Inescapable. 

He looks back at Tsukki when the taller man releases his death grip on Tadashi’s forearm to slowly take his glasses off, hands shaking as he wipes at their lenses with his long sleeved shirt. 

Akiteru is gone. Now they have to decide what to do without him. 

Tadashi feels Tsukki’s fingers curl around his again and he shifts himself so that he’s hugging Tsukki’s entire arm, trying to feed strength and resolve through touch alone. Being this close to his boyfriend gives him courage, as silly as it sounds. 

“What now?” Tadashi manages to ask. He didn’t have to ask it: it’s the only thing on their minds other than, well. Yeah. 

“My brother,” Saeko says. “He’s in Ota City. I want to try and find him, if I can.” Tadashi looks at Tsukki, whose eyes are slowly starting to clear but who isn’t exactly lucid yet. It’s understandable: he just watched his brother be eaten alive. 

“We’ll join you, if you’ll have us.” Tsukki squeezes his hand a little, indicating that he agrees with the plan. 

Saeko nods shakily. “Yeah. Okay. Well I still have the keys to our car. If we can weave our way around the traffic jams, we might be able to get there in a few hours.”

“Optimistic,” Tsukki grumbles, but his voice is high and reedy, nothing like it usually is. His attempt at normal soothes some of Tadashi’s nerves, though. 

Saeko shrugs. “It could work. I guess we’ll hafta see.” 

“If it doesn’t?” Tadashi is already standing, tugging Tsukki up with him. The taller boy follows slowly, his limbs unfolding in an impressive display of flexibility as he takes his place next to Tadashi. He lets go of Tadashi’s hands and instead mimics Tadashi and grips his arm. 

Saeko shrugs. “I was a city planner. We could get around alright.” She eyes them up and then chuckles darkly. “We’re not much of fighters here.” She has a point. While Tadashi and Tsukki are still strong from their high school sports and Saeko has a fair amount of muscle mass, they aren’t exactly warriors. If they can’t drive all the way to Ota City they’ll probably have to sneak their way there, which doesn’t sound like that would be incredibly effective. 

Tadashi is fine following Saeko anywhere, as long as they can get out of Ibaraki. If everything is already reminding him of Akiteru, he can’t imagine how bad it must be for Tsukki and Saeko. If Tadashi was a stronger person, he might want to go north to check on his parents. As it is, he’s a coward. And the thought of seeing them dead….

No. He’ll be happy that he’s alive now, and he’ll be happy imagining that they too are surviving. They don’t need Tadashi; they’ve been surviving just fine without him for two years while he’s been at university in Tokyo, and they can continue to survive without him now. The best plan right now is to stay with Saeko and try to find her brother. From what he remembers, Tanaka Ryuunosuke is a recent high school graduate who decided to stay in Ota City to work...for a gym? Maybe? He’s usually a pretty good listener, but specific facts slip through the cracks. If the younger Tanaka is in a city he’s familiar with, then he might have friends. In this world, Tadashi has a feeling that strength in numbers will be advantageous. 

“It’s just up ahead,” Saeko waves them over to the building she’s standing by, and Tadashi and Tsukki run over to her, staying alert for any Infected. 

The car is exactly where Saeko left it, which feels like the universe apologizing for killing Akiteru. When they get inside it with all of their gear, she whoops loudly. “Quarter of a tank!” She celebrates, and Tadashi finds his lips curling into something that resembles a smile. When he chances a glance at Tsukki he sees his boyfriend staring out the window, hands limp in his lap and no particular expression on his face. He’s usually so good at reading Tsukki, and it almost scares him when he realizes that he has no clue what Tsukki is thinking. 

Even though they mostly drive on sidewalks, Saeko is able to drive for almost an hour, the three of them getting out once in a while to move cars so that they can get through. They hit a bad jam in Misato, and by then it’s getting dark.

“We should make camp,” Saeko says. Tadashi looks at Tsukki, who merely nods before he starts looking around at the buildings. Misato is a ghost town, nothing living, dead, or undead in sight. The quiet scares him.

“There,” Tsukki points to a building that has few windows on the lower floors and cars piled up outside of its entrance. 

Saeko hums. “It’ll be hard to get into, but once we’re in it looks like it’ll keep us safe for a night.”

“We can make a plan in the morning, then?” Tadashi asks. His companions nod, and they all grab their things before sprinting over to the building. Tsukki is immediately opening car doors and crawling into a car.

“Whatcha doing?” Saeko asks amusedly.

“I can see a way to the entrance, but I think we’ll have to climb through these cars. I’ll keep looking here if you check out the opening from the outside.”

Saeko nods. “On it. Yamaguchi, stay here to keep watch, warn us if you see anything.” Tadashi gives her his assent and scans the street. Behind him he can hear the scrape of metal on metal as Tsukki opens car doors into each other to climb into the next car. Just as it’s been since they’ve left in the car, there’s no signs of life or the undead. 

Saeko comes jogging back. “He was right. There are way too many things in the way. A construction machine fell in front of the building before some cars stacked around it, so there’s no way in through that entrance from out here.”

“Got one here,” Tsukki’s voice is a little muffled by how far he’s crawled, but there’s a triumphant look in his eyes when he turns back to look at his companions. The familiar look makes goosebumps crawl up Tadashi’s arms. Tsukki would get that look anytime he aced an exam, told a joke that made Tadashi laugh, or baked something that made Tadashi moan. He hasn’t seen it in a while, and it makes his heart leap to it again. 

Saeko nods to Tadashi. “You go first, I’ll keep a lookout.” 

Tadashi crawls in after Tsukki, struggling a little when he gets to tight parts where his shoulders have to tilt a lot more than Tsukki’s did. He hopes that Saeko doesn’t have the same amount of trouble fitting, though he knows for a fact that her hips are wider than his and Tsukki’s. Once he finally wiggles his way through the last car window and falls in a heap on the floor of the building, Tsukki offers him a hand up which he takes gratefully. 

“We’re through!” He calls to Saeko, and she pokes her head into the first car with a smile. 

“My turn, then!” She’s much more agile than Tadashi, making it through the mess of cars within a few minutes. Tadashi whistles his appreciation. “Thank you,” she dusts herself off and bows grandly. Something that he’s always admired about Saeko is her ability to lighten the mood. And here she is, a few hours after the brutal death of her boyfriend, still able to smile. Tadashi doesn’t think he’s ever respected another person more. Saeko lets out a deep breath and surveys the room they’re in, hands on her hips. 

It’s a lobby, with high ceilings and uncomfortable-looking chairs and too many gossip magazines. There’s a receptionist desk and an elevator, with a stairwell door to their right. “Should we go for higher ground?” Tadashi asks. 

“I’d rather have a fire and stay in the lobby with its high ceilings than go up,” Saeko shrugs. “Beans taste better warmed up.”

“We should be fine here for the night,” Tsukki nods. 

They begin preparing the lobby by breaking one of the high windows by the receptionist desk so that the smoke has somewhere to go and barricading the front door even more with some of the chairs and tables. When Saeko starts breaking down some chairs to use their wooden legs as food for the fire, Tsukki grabs her hand and shakes his head. “Finished wood won’t be great for fuel. It might release carcinogens and not burn.” 

“Are we actually worried about getting cancer in an apocalypse?” Saeko asks. 

“Not to point out the obvious, but it’s probably not likely that we’ll live long enough to get cancer,” Tadashi shrugs. “And would we rather get hypothermia or cancer?” It’s not too cold since the sun is out, but by the time night falls for good it’ll be close to freezing. 

Tsukki contemplates it for a moment before nodding. “But let’s get some of the upholstering, too. Both from the chairs and in the car.” Tadashi grabs a knife from their bag and starts ripping the fabric from the chairs, piling it near the receptionist’s desk. He picks up a few magazines. 

“Should we use these for kindling?”

Tsukki purses his lips, pausing in his work ripping up the fabric covering the car seats. “Is there any newspaper?” Tadashi checks behind the desk and waves it in the air. 

“Not a lot, though!” 

Tsukki nods. “We’ll use both, then.” Tadashi keeps collecting more fabric from the chairs, thankful for the millionth time that he’s facing the end of the world with Tsukki by his side. By himself, he’s not very helpful: he’s strong enough, but all Tadashi has by himself is a mostly-finished degree in agriculture and animal husbandry, a bench press of 185, and a random collection of knowledge about insects and dinosaurs thanks to the hundreds of documentaries and books he and Tsukki would read and watch together before the literal end of the world occurred. 

But with Tsukki, he’s infinitely more helpful. He’s been acting as Tsukki’s translator and mediator since they were kids. Tsukki is smart and analytical, known for solving any problem and overcoming any obstacle. And while his social skills aren’t exactly up to par, that’s what he has Tadashi for. Tadashi navigates people while Tsukki leads them through situations. Tsukki’s blunt words and “Get out my way” attitude is softened in Tadashi’s presence. It’s why they were such a good team throughout high school, and why Tadashi knows they’ll be a good team now, too. As long as Tsukki is by his side, he’ll be invincible. 

While Tadashi is ripping up the lobby chairs, he sees a dead cockroach on the floor, and he’s reminded of a vivid memory, back when he and Tsukki would spend their summers hunting for bugs and swimming in ponds and building sandcastles for their dinosaurs. 

_“Cockroaches have been around since the dinosaurs!” Tadashi grinned at his friend, and Tsukki looked appropriately impressed. He poked the cockroach that they had captured and placed in a shallow glass jar, and they watched it run around for a bit._

_“Does it not have wings?” Tsukki asked._

_“Some of them do. But if you’re invincible, I don’t know why you’d want wings. They can survive anything!”_

Tadashi curls his lip at the dead cockroach. Not even it could survive the horrors of the days ahead of them. It’s not a comforting thought.

Once they have enough fuel, they build their fire near the reception desk and settle their things near it. There’s a rolled-up blanket at the bottom of Tsukki’s bag and another one in Saeko’s that they lay out. Tsukki takes the lighter from Akiteru’s apartment and lights the newspaper underneath the collection of wooden chair legs and upholstery. It all immediately catches fire, blazing bright and hot. 

“More fabric,” Tsukki gestures, and Tadashi places more on the fire. The wood then slowly begins to burn, too, and they all settle back, eating a little of the food they brought. Without another mouth to feed they have enough to last a few more weeks, but Tadashi is already worried about what they’ll do when they run out. 

“Long day of walking tomorrow, boys,” Saeko says. “We’ll hit Ota city in 8 hours if we don’t encounter any problems.” 

“Oh, we’ll hit problems,” Tadashi grumbles, his pessimism probably stemming from his still-rumbling stomach as it begs for more food. 

Saeko laughs, though it’s more subdued than before. “Goodnight, boys. Don’t stay up too late.” She turns over on her blanket and crosses her arms. Her breathing evens out not even ten minutes later. 

Tsukki has been unbearably quiet and distant, so Tadashi bumps his elbow against Tsukki’s. They’re sitting next to each other, knees pulled to their chest like they always sat when they star-gazed as children. When he glances at his boyfriend, he sees that the skin on his hands is stark white from how hard he’s gripping his knees. 

“Kei? Are you okay?” 

Tsukki stares resolutely at their small fire, his eyes wide and unblinking. “Yes.” His voice is small. Tadashi has never heard him sound like this before. 

Tadashi sidles closer, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. Tsukki lets go of his knees and sinks into him as Tadashi cradles him, hooking his chin on Tsukki’s shoulder and pressing part of his face into Tsukki’s neck. Tsukki places his hands gently over Tadashi’s, which are curled around his middle. “It’s okay to be sad,” Tadashi murmurs. 

“I know,” Tsukki’s voice breaks a little on the second word. They’re silent for a moment, nothing but Saeko’s even breathing and the crackling fire punctuating the silence of the lobby. 

“It’s okay to cry,” Tadashi says, realizing that he hasn’t seen Tsukki cry since any of this happened. Actually, the last time he saw Tsukki cry was when they watched Grave of the Fireflies months and months ago. Tadashi, on the other hand, cries a lot. He sort of enjoys the catharsis that it brings, and unlike Tsukki he has no problem letting loose (even if he doesn’t want to). 

Kei nuzzles closer to Tadashi, his eyes closing and his eyelashes brushing Tadashi’s cheek. “Survive now,” he says quietly, “cry later.” 

Tadashi wants to hold Kei so tightly until he can’t feel any more pain. “Okay,” he whispers. “I love you, you know?” They’ve known each other for over ten years, dating for five. It’s far from the first time Tadashi has said those words, but for some reason it feels like it’s the first time all over again.

Kei lets out a sob, but no tears come. “I know. I love you too.” His voice is so small that it makes Tadashi want to cry for him. But if Tsukki is going to be strong right now, he can be strong for him, too. He’s never let Tsukki weather anything alone and he’s not about to start letting him tonight. 

So he holds his closest friend, both of them wishing they were somewhere else, but so, so glad that they’re not alone.

Saeko is right, and the morning brings them to a day full of walking. It’s exhausting, walking for an hour or so and then hiding for thirty minutes or more as they wait out infecteds or people with weapons. Their feet are dragging by hour eight, but when Tadashi trips on his own feet Tsukki is quick to catch him, hauling him back up and linking their pinkies together. Tadashi smiles at him gratefully, and Kei rewards him with a small upwards quirk of his lips. Tadashi has seen that quirk so many times, and he wants to see it so many more. That quirk is what’s going to keep his feet from stopping completely. 

“It ain’t far now,” Saeko calls to them. Tadashi isn’t very optimistic; she’s been saying that for the past two hours now. 

“We can take a break,” Tsukki murmurs to him, but Tadashi shakes his head. He refuses to be the one to drag them down. It always feels like he’s the sinker attached to Tsukki’s bob (ugh, is he really making _fishing metaphors_ now? He’s been spending too much time with his dad). Regardless, he’s not going to keep Tsukki from floating as he wishes, so he keeps his stride identical to his boyfriend’s. 

A shout pierces the air and the three of them whip their heads towards the noise. It’s silent for another moment, and they all turn to look at each other. Another shout, this one more guttural, echoes in the same direction, and they all start jogging towards it. When someone makes a noise with that much desperation in it, you can’t ignore it.

They reach an intersection in the road where two boys are standing on top of a car, four Infected grabbing at their ankles. They look terrified but determined, a fire in their eyes that says that they aren’t going to give up anytime soon. Tadashi looks around and sees what he assumes to be the boys’ weapons, both of them just out of reach for the stranded boys but perfectly available for Tadashi to grab. They’re only a few yards from the infected. Luckily, the boys have spotted them and are making enough noise to distract the Infected from the newcomers. 

“Tadashi,” Tsukki hisses, trying to grab for him as he lunges for one of the weapons - a lug wrench. Tsukki snatches his sleeve but Tadashi is running with enough force to yank them both towards the weapons. Tsukki’s ungraceful tripping makes enough noise for them both to freeze in surprise, but luckily the Infected don’t hear them over the yells of the two boys. Tadashi also grabs the other weapon, a small hatchet, and they both back away hastily. 

Saeko already has one of the knives from the apartment in her hand and she looks at them both grimly before nodding, pointing her knife at the one she’s planning on going for. Tadashi licks his lips and nods back, holding out the hatchet for Tsukki to take. He points to his target, the one next to Saeko’s. The fourth one is on the other side of the car, so if they’re quick with the first three they’ll have time to kill the fourth. Tadashi looks at Tsukki to see him surveying the scene with a calculating look in his eyes. The hatchet is being passed between his hands contemplatively. He’s in, too. 

Saeko starts creeping up on the infected, and Tadashi follows her lead, trying to sync his movements so that the Infected won’t catch on. “Now!” Saeko yells, and they simultaneously attack the infected. Tadashi winds back the lug wrench as far as he can and it comes smashing down on the Infected’s head. Unfortunately, all it does is make it turn around, and Tadashi ducks to his right as it stumbles towards him. He uses its momentary confusion to push it to the ground and he takes the wrench and goes at its head with his eyes closed, opening them once in a while to see if it’s still moving. It is. 

After what feels like only a few seconds and an entire eternity the Infected stops twitching and he stands up straight, wiping sweat from his temple with his forearm. He notices that Tsukki is wrestling the hatchet from the dead Infected’s head and Saeko is making her way over to the two boys, who apparently stomped the fourth Infected to death without the threat of the other three looming over them. 

The one with orange hair is practically vibrating with excitement. “Thanks a bunch!” He says. “I really thought Boke and I were gonna die back there.” He jerks his thumb to the dark-haired boy, who glares at him sullenly. 

“I’m not the one who threw our weapons at them like a dumbass.”

_“I’m_ the dumbass? Who got us lost, huh? Takeda-sensei told us not to go far but you just _had_ to race me, huh?”

“It wasn’t a race, stupid.”

“It was when you started running!” 

“Um, hi?” Tadashi steps in, not sure how to stop their bickering. It works immediately, the two of them backing away from their nose-to-nose position and staring at Tadashi as if they weren’t just fighting mere seconds ago.

“Hi!” The orange-haired one bounces, bowing to them all. “Thanks for saving us! I’m Hinata, and this is Bakeyama!” 

“Boke! My name’s Kageyama.”

“Well I just thought they should know how dumb you are.”

Kageyama looks ready to wind back and punch Hinata in the face, so Tadashi steps between them. “Are these yours?” He holds up the lug wrench and points at the hatchet, grabbing it when Tsukki offers it. He’s already looking annoyed at the two newcomers, and it makes Tadashi smile. 

“Oh yeah! Thanks!” Hinata grabs the hatchet and Kageyama takes back his wrench. “What are your names?” 

“Oh! Sorry,” Tadashi grins sheepishly at them. “I’m Yamaguchi, and that’s Tsukishima.” He points to Tsukki, who continues to look unimpressed.

“An’ I’m Saeko,” Saeko grins ferally, and both Hinata and Kageyama shrink a little. 

“You remind me…” Kageyama trails off in a soft mumble, looking oddly intense as he stares at Saeko. 

“So where are ya headed?” Hinata beams, speaking over his friend. 

“Ota City. We’ve got some friends from here,” Tadashi says carefully.

“For real? Well you made it! We’re here with a group, and you guys seem helpful! I’m sure you could join us if you wanted!” Hinata smiles.

“Hinata boke! They’d have to be approved by Sensei,” Kageyama smacks the orange-haired boy upside the head. 

Hinata glares at Kageyama, but then gives Tadashi a sheepish smile. “That’s right. If Takeda-sensei thinks you’re not a good addition, he won’t let you join.”

“Has that happened?” Saeko asks, looking intrigued.

“Only a few times! And they weren’t good people,” Hinata says seriously, nodding. “But you saved us! So you must be good people!” Kageyama nods in the background. 

“How...old are you?” Tadashi finds himself asking. 

“We’re fifteen!” Hinata says proudly, puffing his small chest out. Tadashi blinks in surprise. He would’ve guessed twelve for Hinata, sixteen or older for Kageyama. “I know I’m small, but I’m strong.”

“That’s why you were cowering on top of a car,” Tsukki says dryly, and Tadashi shoots him a look. Now is not the time to make enemies, not when a group as weak as them could benefit from strength in numbers. Tsukki seems to know this, too, because he lets it go. 

“Could we meet Takeda-sensei?” Saeko asks. She seems to have reached the same conclusion that Tadashi and Tsukki have. 

“Sure! We were just heading back there when we got stuck by the geeks,” Hinata sticks his tongue out in disgust as he looks down at the Infected. “Blech. They’re gross to look at, aren’t they?” 

Tadashi is inclined to agree. Their skin is peeling off from the sun’s exposure and their hair is falling out in great clumps. Their skin is also slipping off of their bodies, which emanate an aroma of decay and death. Their eyes are sunken or falling out, their fingernails are crumbling, their noses are decaying.

“Well come on! Takeda-sensei isn’t very patient, and he expected us back a while ago.” 

They all start walking, Hinata and Kageyama leading the way. It’s funny to watch them: Hinata is like a ball of energy or a small sun, and Kageyama slinks along like his shadow, ever-watchful and present. 

“So how do you know Takeda-sensei?” Tadashi ventures. 

“Oh! He’s the academic advisor for our volleyball team! And my Japanese teacher. Takeda-sensei’s so cool,” Hinata gushes. 

“Boke, we don’t have a volleyball team anymore,” Kageyama reminds him, and Hinata deflates. 

“Right. Oh, but he’s been watching out for us, he’s so cool,” Hinata repeats. “We go to boarding school, so our families are far from here.” 

“Tell them our whole life stories, would you?” Kageyama grumbles darkly, but he doesn’t actually seem that upset about it. “You’re gonna bore them to death, boke.” 

“It’s fine,” Tadashi is quick to say. “Nice to know that there are other survivors, you know?”

“Yeah,” Hinata suddenly looks solemn, and Tadashi feels remorseful that he’s the one who put that look there. “Some people are just unlucky.” 

“Or too weak make it in this world,” Tsukki says, voice surprisingly bitter. Tadashi looks over at him with shock. It’s the first time Tsukki has insinuated that Akiteru’s death might be the result of cowardice. The thought hadn’t completely escaped Tadashi’s thoughts, but he had thrown it away fairly quickly. It was easier to imagine that Akiteru had just fallen behind, instead of given up. 

“Kei,” Saeko says sharply, and Tsukki very pointedly stares her down. She bites her lip and crosses her arms over her chest, looking vulnerable and so unlike herself it makes Tadashi’s heart ache a little. He knows that if he reaches out to Kei right now he’ll just pull even further away, so he welcomes the distraction when Hinata starts bouncing even higher than before.

“Just ahead!”

“We’ve been staying at the school,” Kageyama explains, “but Ukai-san has been talking about moving us to a new place and building a compound.”

“A compound?” Saeko asks with interest. 

“Yeah. We have the lumber from a nearby plant. Just need the manpower.” 

Saeko looks at Tadashi and Kei. “We’d be safe behind a wall.”

“Theoretically,” Tsukki mumbles, but he looks a little more alive at the thought of a wall. Safety. It seems like that’s nothing but a faraway dream, but the fact that there are people out here trying to create their own safe place….

Tadashi wants to be a part of it. He doesn’t know these people, but he knows that he’s willing to do almost anything to secure safety for himself and Tsukki. It scares him, how quickly his mind is moving. They have to secure a place in this community. 

“Takeda-sensei!” Hinata yells, barreling towards a man who walks out of the building, hand raised in greeting. As they get closer, Tadashi is surprised by how small the man actually is. He’s looking up at Tadashi and Tsukki and they haven’t even gotten to him yet. Of course, most people look up at him and his boyfriend, but this guy has to crane his neck a little more than the average person. “This is Yamaguchi, Saeko, and Tsukishima! They totally saved Kageyama and I!”

“Kageyama and me,” the man corrects absentmindedly, peering at the newcomers from behind his thick glasses. “You two should go check in with Kiyoko, thank you. Hello, I’m Takeda.” 

“Hello Sensei,” Saeko bows to him, and Tadashi and Tsukishima follow suit. 

“I assume that Hinata and Kageyama have told you about us?” He asks. “And how are we looking to expand?” 

“He might have mentioned it,” Tsukki says quickly and coldly. Tadashi steps back and lets him handle it; if he stepped in, they might get trampled over (he’s always been seen as kind of a pushover). Tsukki, on the other hand, won’t let them get stiffed. 

Takeda grins then, but his eyes hold a fire that slightly terrifies Tadashi. “So? Do we pique your interest?”

“Maybe,” Tsukki says, face impassive, and Tadashi watches it as if it’s a business deal. It kind of is, now that he thinks about it. “What are your expectations for people in your group? Loyalty?”

Takeda’s grin only grows. “To a point. We need to be able to trust each other, but if we need to part ways we can do so cordially.” He glances at Tadashi and Saeko before returning his gaze to Tsukki. “If I’m being honest, we need bodies. Bodies for protection, for building, for scavenging. We need honest, good people. Can you vouch for yourselves?” 

“Can you vouch for _yourself?”_ Tsukki bites back. Tadashi hadn’t realized it before, but Tsukki has carefully placed himself between Takeda and Tadashi, gently nudging Tadashi back the longer they’ve been talking. 

Takeda steps closer to Tsukki, his eyes intense and wide, the smile never leaving his face even as it gets more alight with excitement at their discussion. He opens his mouth when a voice comes from behind him.

“Oi Sensei, leave ‘em be!” The new man leers. He has bleached blonde hair that’s held back by two thick black bands and an unlit cigarette sticking out of his mouth. “Do ya three have any marketable skills?” 

“Ukai-san?” Saeko asks, cocking her head as if she’s guessing wrong. 

The man squints at her before his eyes widen in recognition. “Tanaka! Older Tanaka. Huh, didn’t expect to see you here.” 

“Is Ryuu here?” She asks, moving closer to him with wide eyes. 

“Eh? The kid? ‘Course. Kid never left, no matter how much he wanted to find ya,” Ukai shrugs. “Once we vet yer friends here you can see ‘im.” 

“Yamaguchi is an agriculture major,” Tsukki says quickly. “He knows about crops and animal husbandry. His skills are invaluable.” Takeda and Ukai look at him with approval and barely-hindered interest. 

“And you?” Takeda asks. 

“I’m just an anthropology student. My skills are not as marketable.”

“Tsukki’s a great negotiator and problem-solver,” Tadashi grabs his boyfriend’s hand, refusing to let him get left behind. Tsukki stiffens beside him. “He knows a plethora of useful things. On our way here, he’s the one who knew how to build a fire and found us ways into buildings. He’s analytical and objective and isn’t afraid to tell you the truth.”

Takeda looks even more interested. He turns to Ukai. “I think we’ve stumbled upon some valuable resources here. Or rather,” he looks back at them, “they’ve stumbled upon us.” He smiles faintly. “Would you like to join us? I can’t promise it will be easy.” 

“It never is,” Tadashi sets his jaw. 

“I suppose not. We’re glad to have you,” Takeda sticks his hand out, and Tadashi shakes it. “Welcome to Karasuno.”

**Author's Note:**

> This ends the same as the iwaoi one!!!! continuity!!!!!   
> As you can see, everyone’s ages have flip-flopped incredibly, so here’s a quick rundown of the big characters we’ve seen/are about to see:  
> 1st year highschoolers (15): Kageyama, Hinata, Yachi  
> 1st year university age (19-20): Tanaka, Ennoshita, Kinoshita, Narita  
> 2nd year university age (20-21): Kuroo, Kenma, Akaashi, Bokuto, Daichi, Suga, Yamaguchi, Tsukishima  
> 3rd year university age (21-22): Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Kiyoko  
> Older: Saeko, Ukai, Takeda
> 
> Anyways thank you so much for reading!! I appreciate you all SO MUCH! 
> 
> Hey hey hey I finally got a twitter for my nerding out, so please [check it out!](https://twitter.com/FromMoths)
> 
> Also please feel free to visit me on [tumblr!](https://lessons-from-moths.tumblr.com/) I cry a lot about gender binaries and Tanaka Ryuunosuke.


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